Food and water are two of the most important necessities for survival, but, with an increasing demand for food and a looming water crisis, a shortage of both may be on the horizon unless innovative technologies are developed considering the risk factor Scientists are now taking on the challenging task of developing rice production systems that can cope with water scarcity.

Present day conventional method of rice cultivation utilises 5,000 litres of water for producing one kg of rice than its actual requirement of 3,000 litres. About 2,000 litres is lost due to flooding and seepage losses. Further, decline in water table necessitates the need for improved water-use efficiency and water productivity in agriculture, particularly in rice cultivation.

What is aerobic rice cultivation ?
The newly upcoming approach of rice cultivation called aerobic rice cultivation is a fundamentally different approach to grow rice like an upland crop, such as wheat, on nonflooded aerobic soils, thereby eliminating continuous seepage and percolation and greatly reducing evaporation. In simple words aerobic rice cultivation means growing rice plant as irrigated crop like cultivating maize and wheat in aerobic condition, where oxygen is plenty in soil.

Geographical conditions required for aerobic rice cultivation ?

The suitable areas for aerobic rice cultivation includes irrigated lowlands, where rainfall is insufficient to sustain rice production, delta regions where there is delay in water release from reservoir, irrigated system of rice cultivation, where pumping from deep bore well has become so expensive and favourable upland system has access to supplementary irrigation.

Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, parts of Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, and eastern Uttar Pradesh are the projected area where there is uneven distribution and frequent occurrence of soil moisture limitation

How is aerobic rice cultivation different from traditional rice cultivation ?

In aerobic rice cultivation, rice is cultivated as direct sown in non-puddle aerobic soil under supplementary irrigation and fertiliser with suitable high yielding rice varieties.

Throughout the growing season, aerobic rice field is kept under unsaturated condition and field is irrigated by surface or sprinkler system to keep soil wet due to which water productivity is reported to be higher in aerobic rice by 64-88 per cent (calculated as grams of grain produced per kg of water input) and utilises 3,000 to 3,500 litres of water to produce 1 kg of rice compared to rice raised under transplanted flooded system.

Aerobic rice cultivation is a " Mechanised way of sowing"

Aerobic rice cultivation system involves mechanised way of sowing with no puddling, transplanting and not need of frequent irrigation, which reduce labour usage more than 50 per cent, compared to irrigated rice but aerobic rice cultivation needs suitable rice varieties having the characteristics of both upland and high yielding lowland varieties to get good yield under the new unconventional system of cultivation.

Aerobic rice cultivation is an alternative option to reduce labour drudgery and to increase water productivity. Further, in environmental point of view, emission of methane is lower substantially in aerobic rice.

Therefore, in recent days it is gaining momentum among rice researchers and farmers. However, extra care should be taken, since poorly managed field may cause partial to complete failure of crop, which might happen due to weeds and micronutrient non-availability.

Disadvantages involved with aerobic rice cultivation :-

Increased weed growth, poor crop stand, crop lodging, high percentage of panicle sterility and root-knot nematode infestation are some of the constrains in aerobic rice cultivation

High weed infestation is the major constraint for aerobic rice and cost involved in weed control is higher. Further, due to high infiltration rate of water and imbalanced availability of nitrogen makes the aerobic soil further ailing for micronutrients (iron and zinc) and rise in nematode population

However in recent days aerobic rice cultivation is gaining momentum among rice researchers and farmers. However, extra care should be taken, since poorly managed field may cause partial to complete failure of crop, which might happen due to weeds and micronutrient non-availability. Efficient nutrient management techniques along with integrated weed management are researchable areas for successful aerobic rice cultivation and research is in progress.

Top Teams: Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and Force India.

Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy has been sworn in as acting Governor of Arunachal Pradesh.

He has been given the additional charge of Governor of Arunachal Pradesh during the leave of absence of incumbent Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa.

Roy was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, Justice Ajit Singh as per the provisions of Article 159 of Constitution of India. He is the 18th Governor to be sworn in as Governor of this Himalayan State.

About Tathagata Roy :

Tathagata Roy born on 14 September 1945 in Kolkata, West Bengal is politician, engineer and author. He studied Civil Engineering in Bengal Engineering College Sibpur and joined Indian Railways Service of Engineers.

He took voluntary retirement in 1990 and Jadavpur University as professor and founder head of the Department of Construction Engineering. He was attracted towards Hindutva and became a Swayamsevak in 1986. After leaving government service he joined the BJP in 1990.

He has authored two books :

The Life and Times of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee.

My People, Uprooted: A Saga of the Hindus of Eastern Bengal.

Constitutional provisions of Governor :

Article 153: There shall be a Governor for each State. The 7th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1956 provides that nothing in this article shall prevent the appointment of the same person as Governor for two or more States.

Article 156: The Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President. The Governor may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his office. Governor is appointed by President and hold office during the pleasure of President.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has signed Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with IIT-Bombay and Madras to establish a bi-nodal ‘Centre of Propulsion Technology’ (CoPT) at the two institutions.

The initiative is aimed at achieving synergy between DRDO and Indian Institutes of Technology for channelising the research efforts towards developing products and related critical aerospace technologies.

CoPT will evolve mechanisms to facilitate execution of programs related to propulsion technology and will engage the primary Research Nodes (IIT Bombay and IIT Madras) and other research institutions.

It will facilitate and undertake multidisciplinary directed research in the focused areas of futuristic aero engines, hypersonic propulsion for long duration flight.

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